IBM Half High LTO Gen 4 SAS Tape Drive Midrange storage for demanding backup, archival and regulatory compliance requirements Highlights Midrange LTO cartridge capacity of up to 1.6 TB 1 Provides data transfer rates of up to 240 MBps 1 to help shorten backup times Utilizes AES-256 data hardware encryption with no impact to drive performance to help prevent unauthorized access to sensitive data Adaptive data compression, Digital Speed Matching (DSM) and a 256 MB buffer improve drive performance and storage capacity Backward-compatible with IBM Ultrium LTO-3 and LTO-2 media to protect prior investments Future-proofed via forward read/ write media compatibility with IBM Ultrium LTO-5 drives Today s enormous growth in data volume is being fueled by business continuity, regulatory compliance and information lifecycle management initiatives. Whether your business uses high-performance blade, rackmount, or tower IBM and BladeCenter systems, archiving and retrieving data in a fast, dependable and consistent manner is mission-critical to your business. The IBM Half High LTO Gen 4 SAS Tape Drive is the 4th-generation Linear Tape-Open (LTO) offering, introducing larger storage capacities, increased performance, and advanced security features to effectively meet the demanding backup, archival and regulatory compliance requirements of your and BladeCenter environments. Greater capacity and speed The IBM Half High LTO Gen 4 SAS Tape Drive is an excellent tape storage solution for businesses requiring backup or low-cost, real-time archiving of their data within a small window of time. This 4thgeneration drive provides up to twice the storage capacity, up to 1.6 TB (with 2:1 compression), and provides up to a 50 percent performance increase, up to 240 MBps (with 2:1 compression), over the preceding LTO-3 half-high (HH) technology. This midrange LTO enterprise offering provides an excellent alternative to slower and smaller capacity 1/4 in., 4 mm and 8 mm digital linear tape (DLT) or super digital linear tape (SDLT) tape drives.
To further increase performance, 14-speed Digital Speed Matching (DSM) will adjust the drive s native data rate to better match the data rate of the server. This feature, along with a 256 MB buffer, will improve data throughput and reduce tape repositions and wear for times when the host data rate is less than optimal. In addition, an IBM-patented algorithm to optimize compression speed is used. The algorithm is designed to look ahead at incoming data, determine the most efficient storage method and synchronously swap the data compression scheme dynamically between ALDC (adaptive lossless data compression) and a pass-thru mode to help provide optimal data compression and increased data throughput. 5.25" half-height internal form factor for integration into IBM tower servers and external IBM 1U rack-mount enclosures. Securing your data Businesses proactively focus on securing sensitive customer and business data. With increasing regulatory and compliance requirements, the need to secure data for audit and compliance purposes has become critical. LTO Generation 4 tape drives utilize AES-256 encryption and support write-once, read-many (WORM) cartridges to help protect your data. Investment protection Compatibility with Ultrium LTO-3 and LTO-2 media eases the introduction of these high-performance tape drives into your environment and protects your prior investments in LTO technology and media. This drive is backward read-andwrite-compatible with Ultrium 3 media and read-compatible with Ultrium 2 media. However by using Ultrium 4 media, which provides up to double the capacity of Ultrium 3 media, you will shorten restore times, reduce the number of tapes required and improve the backup window. In addition, LTO-4 media can be read and written to by LTO-5 drives, easing your road to future upgrades. Greater data protection with reliability and serviceability With a focus on overall reliability, HH LTO-4 drives utilize advanced independent tape loader and threader motors. This, combined with positive pin retention improvements, increases tape handling reliability while loading tapes, recovering tapes, 2
and extracting tapes after a sudden power-down. In addition, the Partial Response Maximum Likelihood (PRML) channel includes an adaptive channel calibration feature. This enables the drive to compensate for variations in the media, recording function, and read/write head to optimize interchangeability between LTO drives from other vendors. For enhanced serviceability, it also captures error information. These errors are stored in the drive s flash memory so it can be recalled when needed to minimize troubleshooting time. Low total cost of ownership Even with the increased speed and capacity this efficient tape drive consumes less power than previous generations of IBM LTO tape drives which is ideal for green storage environments and reduced operating costs. Tape drives are inherently economically and environmentally more friendly than any other archival and backup storage devices, with lower power requirements, lower cooling requirements, and lower costs per gigabyte. The high performance of the HH LTO 4 Tape Drive, combined with the high capacity of the Ultrium 4 tape cartridge, can reduce the number of drives and cartridges required in a storage or archive environment. Together, these attributes all serve to reduce your overall total cost of ownership. IBM 3628 half-height external unit for standalone table top or rack shelf applications. Features of fourth-generation drives Building upon the highly successful line of IBM LTO tape drives, the IBM Half High LTO Gen 4 SAS Tape Drive introduces new features that increase throughput, capacity and reliability over previous generations of LTO Gen 4 drives, while also providing capabilities to secure critical data. Advanced features 256-bit AES Encryption to give users the ability to address security concerns by writing encrypted data to the LTO Ultrium tape cartridge and an available Encryption Key Manager that provides easy management of encryption keys. Together, these features provide secure storage and transportation of sensitive information. LTO-4 is the first LTO generation to introduce encryption; Ultrium 4 800 GB media is required. 3
A 16-channel head increases data throughput to support higher drive speeds. IBM-patented timing-based servo positioning writes data to tape with greater precision, supporting the use of narrower tracks on the 16-channel head and increasing linear density by 31 percent when compared to LTO-3. Advanced tape loader and threader mechanism improves error recovery when loading, threading and unloading a cartridge. Independent loader and threader motors, coupled with positive pin retention, will help to retain the pin during a mis-pick. This independent control can improve load and thread reliability. On-the-fly adaptive channel calibration allows the drive to adjust to variations in the media and read/write head while calibrating the channel, which can improve higher data throughput rates and data integrity. Redesigned electronics based on IBM copper technology enables improved performance while providing lower overall power consumption over previous generations of IBM LTO drives. Superior power management improves heat dissipation and provides greater operational efficiency than previous generation IBM LTO drives. The drive operates in two modes: write mode and idle mode (for when the drive is not in use). Digital Speed Matching (DSM) is supported on Ultrium 4 media in increments of 30 MB per second to 120 MB per second. This feature, along with a larger buffer, improves throughput for situations when the host data rate is less than optimal. A large 256 MB buffer works in combination with Digital Speed Matching to further mitigate the impact of data rate fluctuations, enabling the tape drive to perform at its optimal speed. WORM support to address evolving regulatory initiatives, this drive has adopted the LTO industry specification for WORM (write-once, read-many). WORM-enabled drives automatically determine whether the inserted cartridge is a WORM or read/write cartridge. WORM cartridges provide the ability to store vital data in a non-erasable, non-rewriteable format. 4
IBM Half High LTO Gen 4 SAS Tape Drive Form Factor 5.25-inch half-high internal Half-high external Options # 44E8895 3628N4X/3628L4X (with Nema 5-15p Line Cord) Capacity per cartridge 1 Sustained data transfer rate 1 1.6 TB compressed 1 ; 800 GB native Media type LTO Ultrium 4, 3 and 2 Data cartridge Cleaning cartridge Backward compatibility Interface Up to 240 MBps compressed 1 ; 120 MBps native LTO Ultrium 4 (rewritable 5-pack 46C5359), LTO Ultrium 4 (WORM) Universal cleaning cartridge (49Y9893) Read/write-compatible with Ultrium LTO-3 media Read-compatible with Ultrium LTO-2 media 6 Gbps SAS Data compression SLDC (LTO data compression per ECMA-321) 2 Encryption Buffer Data rate matching AES-256 256 MB Digital Speed Matching 30-120 MBps Physical Characteristics Dimensions (with Bezel) 148 mm W 42.7 mm H 210 mm D 213 mm W 58 mm H 332 mm D (6 in W 2 in H 8 in D) (8.4 in W 13.1 in H 2.3 in D) Weight 1.6 kg (4 lb) 4.3 kg (9.4 lbs.) Operating environment Operating temperature 10 to 45 C (50 to 100 F) 10 to 40 C (50 to 104 F) Relative humidity 10% to 80% (non-condensing) 20 to 80% (non-condensing) Warranty Limited One year Limited Three Year 5
For more information To learn more about the IBM Half High LTO Gen 4 SAS Tape Drive, contact your IBM marketing representative or IBM Business Partner, or visit the following website: ibm.com/systems/xtape International Business Machines Corporation 2011 IBM Systems and Technology Group Route 100 Somers, NY 10589 Produced in the United States of America May 2011 All Rights Reserved IBM, the IBM logo, BladeCenter and are trademarks or registered trademarks of International Business Machines Corporation in the United States, other countries or both. Linear Tape Open, LTO and Ultrium are trademarks of HP, IBM and Quantum in the United States and other countries. Other company, product and service names may be trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies. 1 Based on 2:1 compression 2 Prior to the release of ECMA-321, SLDC (streaming lossless data compression) was known as LTO-DC. SLDC uses ALDC as its primary data compression scheme, but also has a pass-thru scheme to avoid the expansion of incompressible data a problem ALDC and most other compression algorithms encounter. Please Recycle XSD03120-USEN-00